This invention relates to a cell for the electrowinning of aluminium from alumina dissolved in a fluoride-containing molten electrolyte having oxygen evolving metallic anodes facing a cell bottom with an aluminium-wettable drained cathode surface and an aluminium reservoir, and a method to produce aluminium in such an aluminium electrowinning cell.
The technology for the production of aluminium by the electrolysis of alumina, dissolved in molten cryolite containing salts, at temperatures around 950xc2x0 C. is more than one hundred years old.
This process, conceived almost simultaneously by Hall and Hxc3xa9roult, has not evolved as much as other electrochemical processes, despite the tremendous growth in the total production of aluminium that in fifty years has increased almost one hundred fold. The process and the cell design have not undergone any great change or improvement and carbonaceous materials are still used as electrodes and cell linings.
The anodes are still made of carbonaceous material and must be replaced every few weeks. The operating temperature is still approximately 950xc2x0 C. in order to have a sufficiently high rate of dissolution of alumina and a higher conductivity of the electrolyte.
The anodes have a very short life because during electrolysis the oxygen which should evolve on the anode surface combines with the carbon to form CO2 and small amounts of CO. The actual consumption of the anode is approximately 450 kg/ton of aluminium produced which is more than ⅓ higher than the theoretical amount.
Another major drawback, however, is due to the fact that irregular electromagnetic forces create waves in the molten aluminium pool and the anode-cathode distance (ACD), also called interelectrode gap (IEG), must be kept at a safe minimum value of approximately 50 mm to avoid short circuiting between the aluminium cathode and the anode or reoxidation of the metal by contact with the CO2 gas formed at the anode surface, leading to a lower current efficiency.
The high electrical resistivity of the electrolyte, which is about 0.4 ohm. cm., causes a voltage drop which alone represents more than 40% of the total voltage drop with a resulting high energy consumption which is close to 13 kWh/kgAl in the most modern cells. The cost of energy consumption has become an even bigger item in the total manufacturing cost of aluminium since the oil crisis, and has decreased the rate of production growth of this important metal.
While progress has been reported in the use of carbon cathodes to which have been applied coatings or layers of aluminium wettable materials which are also a barrier to sodium penetration during electrolysis, very little progress has been achieved in design of cathodes with a view to improving the overall cell efficiency, as well as restraining movement of the molten aluminium in order to reduce the interelectrode gap and the rate of wear of its surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,202,600 (Ransley) proposed the use of refractory borides and carbides as cathode materials, including a drained cathode cell design wherein a wedge-shaped consumable carbon anode was suspended facing a cathode made of plates of refractory boride or carbide in V-configuration.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,400,061 (Lewis/Altos/Hildebrandt) and 4,602,990 (Boxall/Gamson/Green/Stephen) disclose aluminium electrowinning cells with sloped drained cathodes arranged across the cell. In these cells, the molten aluminium flows down the sloping cathodes into a median longitudinal groove along the centre of the cell, or into lateral longitudinal grooves along the cell sides, for collecting the molten aluminium and delivering it to a sump located at one end of the cell.
By inclining the active surface of the cathode and of the anode the escape of the bubbles of the released gas is facilitated. Moreover, to have a cathode at a slope and obtain an efficient operation of the cell would be possible only if the surface of the cathode were aluminium-wettable so that the production of aluminium would take place on a film of aluminium.
Only recently has it become possible to coat carbon cathodes with a slurry which adheres to the carbon and becomes aluminium-wettable and very hard when the temperature reaches 700-800xc2x0 C. or better 950-1000xc2x0 C., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,718 (Sekhar/de Nora) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,874 (de Nora/Sekhar). These patents proposed coating cell cathodes with a slurry-applied refractory boride, which proved excellent for cathode applications. These publications included a number of novel drained cathode configurations, for example including designs where a cathode body with an inclined upper drained cathode surface is placed on or secured to the cell bottom. Further design modifications in the cell construction could lead to obtaining more of the potential advantages of these coatings.
European Patent Application No. 0 393 816 (Stedman) describes another design for a drained cathode cell intended to improve the bubble evacuation. However, the manufacture of the electrodes with slopes as suggested is difficult. Additionally, such a drained cathode configuration cannot ensure optimal distribution of the dissolved alumina.
WO98/53120 (Berclaz/de Nora) discloses a cell provided with a cathode mass supported on a cathode shell or plate, the cathode mass being V-shaped and having along the bottom of the V-shape a central channel extending along the cell for draining molten aluminium.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,559 (de Nora) proposed a new cathode design for a drained cathode, where grooves or recesses were incorporated in the surface of blocks forming the cathode surface in order to channel the drained product aluminium. A specific embodiment provides an enhanced anode and drained cathode geometry where aluminium is produced between V-shaped anodes and cathodes and collected in recessed grooves. The V-shaped geometry of the anodes enables on the one hand a good bubble evacuation from underneath the anodes, and on the other hand it enables the drainage of produced aluminium from cathode surfaces into recessed grooves located at the bottom of the V-shapes.
It is an object of the invention to provide an aluminium electrowinning cell with oxygen-evolving anodes and having an aluminium-wettable drained cathode bottom and an aluminium collection reservoir from which molten aluminium is tapped.
A major object of the invention is to provide an aluminium electrowinning cell having an aluminium-wettable drained cathode which is made of conventional cell blocks which can be easily retrofitted in existing cells.
A further object of the invention is to provide an aluminium electrowinning cell having an aluminium collection reservoir from which molten aluminium can be tapped, without the risk to freeze and at a location where the reservoir can be easily retrofitted in existing cells.
Another object of the invention is to provide an aluminium-wettable cell bottom for such aluminium electrowinning cells.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method to produce aluminium in an aluminium electrowinning cell provided with such a cell bottom.
The invention provides a cell for the electrowinning of aluminium from alumina dissolved in a fluoride-containing molten electrolyte. The cell comprises a plurality of metal-based anodes provided with an oxygen evolving electrochemically active structure having a series of substantially vertical through-openings for the escape of anodically produced gaseous oxygen. The electrochemically active anode structure face and are spaced apart from an aluminium-wettable drained cathode surface on which aluminium is produced. The drained cathode surface is formed along the cell by upper surfaces of a series of juxtaposed carbon cathode blocks, the cathode blocks extending across the cell, for instance single blocks or pairs of blocks end-to-end extending across the entire width of drained cathode surface. The cathode blocks comprise means for connection to an external electric current supply.
According to the invention, the drained cathode surface is divided into quadrants, typically four quadrants, by a longitudinal aluminium collection groove along the cell and by at least one central aluminium collection reservoir across the cell. Pairs of quadrants across the cell are inclined in a V-shape relationship, the collection groove being located along the bottom of the V-shape and arranged to collect molten aluminium draining from the drained cathode surface and evacuate it into the aluminium collection reservoir(s) during cell operation.
As the collection reservoir is located centrally in the cell, the reservoir is protected from thermal losses.
The cell may comprise at least one carbon-based spacer block extending across the cell which is juxtaposed between cathode blocks extending across the cell. An upper surface of the spacer block comprises a central recess which is lower than the aluminium collection/evacuation groove and which extends substantially across the cell to form the abovementioned aluminium collection reservoir.
The central recess may extend between the juxtaposed cathode blocks to form with non-recessed end portions of the spacer block and juxtaposed sidewalls of the juxtaposed cathode blocks the aluminium collection reservoir. However, the reservoir may also be formed with the recess and exclusively with non-recessed side portions and end portions of the spacer block.
As an alternative to a single spacer block, a pair of spacer blocks arranged end-to-end may extend across the cell to space the abovementioned juxtaposed cathode blocks. Likewise, the drained cathode surface may also be formed along the cell by upper surfaces of a series of juxtaposed carbon cathode blocks extending in pairs arranged end-to-end across the cell.
The aluminium collection groove longitudinally dividing the drained cathode surface can be located below the bottom of the inclined quadrants.
The electrochemically active structure of the metal-based anodes may comprise a series of horizontal anode members, each having an electrochemically active surface on which during electrolysis oxygen is anodically evolved. The anode members may be in a parallel arrangement connected by at least one connecting cross-member or in a concentric arrangement connected by at least one generally radial connecting member.
For instance, the anode members of each anode may be in a generally coplanar arrangement and spaced laterally to form longitudinal flow-through openings for the up-flow of alumina-depleted electrolyte driven by the upward fast escape of anodically evolved oxygen, and for the down-flow of alumina-rich electrolyte. The anode members can be blades, bars, rods or wires as described in co-pending applications PCT/IB00/00029 and PCT/IB00/00027 (both in the name of de Nora).
Suitable materials for oxygen-evolving anodes include iron and nickel based alloys which may be heat-treated in an oxidising atmosphere as disclosed in WO00/06802, WO00/06803 (both in the name of Duruz/de Nora/Crottaz), WO00/06804 (Crottaz/Duruz), PCT/IB99/01976 (Duruz/de Nora) and PCT/IB99/01977 (de Nora/Duruz). Further oxygen-evolving anode materials are disclosed in WO99/36593, WO99/36594, WO00/06801, WO00/06805, PCT/IB00/00028 (all in the name of de Nora/Duruz), WO00/06800 (Duruz/de Nora), WO99/36591 and WO99/36592 (both in the name of de Nora).
The invention also relates to a cell bottom of a cell for the electrowinning of aluminium from alumina dissolved in a fluoride-containing molten electrolyte. The cell bottom comprises an aluminium-wettable drained cathode surface on which aluminium is produced. The drained cathode surface is formed along the cell bottom by upper surfaces of a series of juxtaposed carbon cathode blocks, the cathode blocks extending across the cell bottom and comprising means for connection to an external electric current supply.
The drained cathode surface is divided into four quadrants by a longitudinal aluminium collection groove along the cell bottom and by a central aluminium collection reservoir across the cell bottom. Pairs of quadrants across the cell bottom are inclined in a V-shape relationship, the collection groove being located along the bottom of the V-shape and arranged to collect molten aluminium draining from the drained cathode surface and evacuate it into the aluminium collection reservoir(s) during cell operation.
Another aspect of the invention is a method to produce aluminium in an aluminium electrowinning cell having anodes immersed in a molten electrolyte containing dissolved alumina which face a cell bottom as defined above. The method comprises electrolysing the molten electrolyte containing dissolved alumina between the anodes and the drained cathode surface to produce gas on the anodes and molten aluminium on the drained cathode surface; draining the cathodically produced molten aluminium from the drained cathode surface into the collection/evacuation groove; and evacuating the molten aluminium to the aluminium collection reservoir(s).
The method may include producing oxygen on a metal-based electrochemically active anode structure and releasing the produced oxygen through substantially vertical through-openings located in the anode structure.
The produced molten aluminium can be intermittently tapped from the aluminium collection reservoir.
The cell may be operated with a molten electrolyte at a temperature of 700xc2x0 to 900 or 910xc2x0 C., in particular between 730xc2x0 and 870xc2x0 C. or 750xc2x0 and 850xc2x0 C. However, the cell may also be operated at conventional temperatures, i.e. around 950xc2x0 C.